What Effects Does Personification Have?

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The literary tool of personification helps readers relate to non-human subjects by ascribing human qualities and traits to ideas, objects, animals and other items. Personification works by making non-human objects more relatable to humans using vivid descriptions, feelings and emotions. Authors of all kinds of literature use personification, particularly those who write fictional works.

Personification is a literary tool that paints a vivid picture of landscapes, celestial objects and other natural wonders for readers. It is a figure of speech, which is a way for authors to add color and life to subjects and characters by emphasizing and clarifying characters and scenes, and adding dimension and color to characters and scenes. Personification helps bring inanimate objects to life and makes them more appealing to audiences. In addition to making it easier for readers to understand characters and scenes, personification serves as a tool to create emotional connections between readers and characters. By ascribing human characteristics, such as the ability to express emotions and have feelings, to abstract objects or animals, authors allow readers to understand the viewpoints of non-human subjects.

Personification exists in many notable works, including those of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Emily Dickinson. Longfellow uses personification in his poem "Paul Revere’s Ride" by giving the windows in the poem the human abilities of vision and thought. This helps create an ominous and mysterious mood. Dickinson uses personification by giving scenes and shadows the ability to listen, which magnifies the effect of surrounding sunlight.